05/13/2026 at 10:00AM
On Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources will hold an oversight hearing titled “Examining the President’s FY 2027 Budget Request for the Department of the Interior.”
Witness:
- Doug Burgum, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
Department of the Interior FY2027 Proposed Budget
The budget calls for $15.9 billion for the department, a $2.3 billion decrease from the fiscal 2026 enacted level.
The budget agains calls for the unification of the Interior and Agriculture departments’ wildland firefighting activities under a single agency within the Interior Department.
The budget also calls for consolidating the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act permitting within one agency in the Interior Department.
The fiscal year 2027 budget in detail:
- Renewable Energy: cuts $45 million from the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and eliminates renewable energy funding which includes onshore and offshore wind energy.
- Bureau of Land Management: cuts $480 million and slashes funding for Wildlife and Aquatic Habitat Management by $139 million, which includes funding for sage grouse and threatened and endangered species.
- US Fish and Wildlife (FWS): cuts $526 million, decreasing the National Wildlife Refuge System by 20 percent, eliminates grant programs managed by States, Tribes, and other nations, and moves NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service into FWS ($125 million transfer).
- National Park Service: cuts $1.06 billion
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): cuts $526 million, a 37 percent reduction that eliminates ecosystems, and dramatically cuts funding for core science and natural hazards.
- Bureau of Indian Affairs: cuts $378 million, including the elimination of the Indian Guaranteed Loan program and the Indian Land Consolidation program, and a 34 percent reduction in funds that support self-governance and directly fund tribal operations.
- Bureau of Indian Education: cuts $436 million, a 32 percent reduction; some eliminations include funding for Tribal Colleges and Universities, Replacement School Construction, and Early Child and Family Development.
- Wildland Fire: Transfers all U.S. Forest Service Wildland Fire Management functions to DOI.
Details of National Park Service: cuts $1.06 billion
- Operation of the National Park System: cuts $760 million or 26 percent. The skinny budget suggests they may change the funding formula to defund or drastically cut support for smaller or less visited park units.
- National Recreation and Preservation: cuts $86 million or 93 percent
- Historic Preservation Fund: cuts $170 million, or a 94 percent cut, and eliminates everything except funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
- Construction: cuts $40 million, or a 45 percent cut.
The budget also calls for a $10 billion mandatory fund to establish the Presidential Capital Stewardship Program within the National Park Service. The fund’s purpose would be “to coordinate, plan, and execute targeted, priority construction and beautification [sic] projects in and around Washington, D.C.”